Two sugar firms have taken refuge in the court against the government’s order to ban the production of ethanol from sugarcane juice in the 2023-24 sugar season. A distillery and a cooperative sugar mill have appealed to the courts to stay the Centre’s December 7 order.
The court has stayed the December 7 order for these two mills, which had filed the petition. Sources said that the government has also filed a caveat saying that its views should also be heard in this matter. However, there has been no official confirmation of the Centre’s response.
The distillery, in its petition filed in the Karnataka High Court, has said that it produces only ethanol from sugarcane and does not produce sugar, hence the order not to use sugarcane in the production of ethanol is a sign of the death of its industry.
In a petition filed in the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court, a cooperative sugar mill has requested to declare the December 7 order unconstitutional. The mill had also demanded permission to make ethanol from sugarcane juice and B-heavy molasses in the 2023-24 supply year starting from November.
The stay by the court on the Centre’s December 7 order is only for specific mills. In an order issued on December 7, the central government had asked sugar mills not to produce ethanol from sugarcane juice and molasses in the 2023-24 supply year, due to which the entire sector is in trouble.
To achieve the target of 20 percent ethanol blending by 2025, petrol will need to be blended with 15 percent ethanol in the supply year 2023-24. But most experts say that if ethanol is not made from sugarcane juice and molasses, then not even 10 percent ethanol will be added in 2023-24, forget 15 percent. In the last few years, sugarcane juice has emerged as the largest source of ethanol.
However, after opposition from sugar companies, the government amended its order and relaxed the conditions of the ban and allowed the use of 17 lakh tonnes of sugar in the 2023-24 supply year, whereas earlier 40 lakh tonnes of sugar was allowed to be used. The plan was made. This will help in producing about 1.62 to 1.72 billion liters of ethanol.
